Boxer Jermain Taylor out on bond after shooting MAUMELLE (AP) — Boxer Jermain Taylor was freed on $25,000 bond Wednesday after police detained the former middleweight champion in the shooting of his cousin at Taylor's suburban Little Rock home. Taylor appeared via video from the Pulaski County jail for his initial court appearance Wednesday. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Taylor faces preliminary charges of domestic battery and aggravated assault in the late Tuesday shooting o...

Grants intended to improve conditions in Delta LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Community Foundation has awarded $60,000 in grants to six organizations that work to improve social and economic conditions for children and families in the Arkansas Delta region. The grants from the Community Foundation's Arkansas Delta Endowment for Building Community, will support initiatives to help residents improve their economic stability and quality of life. Organizations receiving grants are Vera Lloyd ...

State police: 2 killed in Boone County crashBATAVIA (AP) — Arkansas State Police say two people were killed in a single-vehicle crash in the Ozarks. State police say the collision happened Tuesday night on Arkansas 392 in Boone County. According to a preliminary report, Jerry Kilburn, 49, of Harrison lost control of his truck and drove off the road. State police say Kilburn's truck crashed into a highway sign and a fence before overturning. Kilburn was injured and taken to a hospital in...

Prosecutor says officer withheld evidence MAYFLOWER (AP) — A Mayflower police officer was fired this week after a prosecutor said he intentionally withheld evidence that could have helped clear a woman accused of stealing tornado relief supplies. In a letter, Mayflower's police chief Robert Alcon told officer Mark Winchester on Tuesday that, "because you have lost your effectiveness and credibility with the (Prosecutor's) Office, effective immediately your employment ... is terminated...

Police: Man arrested in Magnolia shooting MAGNOLIA (AP) — Police have arrested a man who they say is responsible for the murder of a Southern Arkansas University football player and another man. Authorities on Tuesday charged Byron Dunn, 20, of Magnolia with a terroristic act. They haven't specified how he was involved. Wide receiver Brandon Hobdy, 23, and former student Wayne Payton, 24, were fatally shot Sunday. They were killed outside of a back-to-school party near Magnolia. Unive...

GOP files complaint over Witt yard signs LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Democratic congressional hopeful James Lee Witt's campaign says it's removing or properly labeling a batch of yard signs that didn't have the proper disclaimers on them after state Republicans complained about them to the Federal Election Commission. The state GOP on Tuesday announced it had filed a complaint with the FEC over the yard signs. GOP officials sent a letter to the commission and attached photos of three Witt yar...

Police say couple's death was a murder-suicide HOT SPRINGS (AP) — Hot Springs police say the death of an elderly couple whose bodies were found in their home last week was a murder-suicide. The Sentinel-Record reported authorities found the bodies of 74-year-old Irving Eugene Marshall Sr. and his 73-year-old wife Deartis M. Flanigan Marshall inside their home last Tuesday. Police and emergency medical personnel responded to the residence after receiving a welfare check request. Hot Springs...

Huckabee backs Cotton's bid for US Senate LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee accused U.S. Senate Democratic leaders of obstruction on Monday as he campaigned in his home state for Republican Tom Cotton, backing a candidate who has the support of conservative groups with whom he's tangled over the years. Huckabee endorsed Cotton's bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, praising him as key to the Republicans' chances to win a majority in the Senate. The GOP needs a...

Suspended Jonesboro police chief resigns JONESBORO (AP) — Jonesboro's police chief has resigned three days after being suspended without pay because of derogatory statements he made on Facebook about a reporter. Michael Yates submitted a resignation letter to Mayor Harold Perrin on Monday, saying he carefully considered his position and decided "the present circumstances dictate" that he must leave his position." Yates wrote that he let "anger and pride override" his judgment and wis...

Unaccompanied children pose little risk of spreading infectious diseaseLITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Health, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has concluded that unaccompanied children who have arrived in the state from Central America pose little risk of spreading infectious diseases to the public. There are no U.S. Health and Human Services’ shelters housing unaccompanied children in Arkansas, but children have been placed with family members or sponsors in the state. Childre...

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Arkansas Department of HealthThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Police say 2 dead in shootings in Alexander ALEXANDER (AP) — Arkansas State Police say two people have been found dead at a home in a Little Rock suburb. Troopers said Saturday that two people entered a home in Alexander on Friday night and began shooting. Alexander police asked state police to take charge of the investigation. State police spokesman Bill Sadler said witnesses told investigators there were more than 20 people in the home when two men entered and started shooting. No oth...

Democrats focus on wage hike, private option LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Democratic candidates for statewide and congressional office in Arkansas called for increasing the state's minimum wage and keeping its compromise Medicaid expansion alive on Saturday, describing themselves as champions of working families as they addressed the party's annual convention. Hoping to prevent a Republican takeover of the state's top offices, the party's nominees derided GOP rivals as out of touch with the state ...

Jonesboro police chief gets 30-day suspension JONESBORO (AP) — Jonesboro Police Chief Michael Yates was suspended Friday for 30 days without pay for derogatory comments he made on Facebook about The Jonesboro Sun and a former reporter who covered his agency. In announcing the suspension, Mayor Harold Perrin said Yates would have to write letters of apology to the newspaper and its former reporter Sunshine Crump. Crump resigned Monday, telling her employer she no longer felt safe in the co...

Fort Chaffee panel shown plans for medical college FORT SMITH (AP) — Fort Chaffee officials got a sneak peek at preliminary designs for a planned medical college to be built in their city. The proposed Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine will be built on 200 acres of land located in Chaffee Crossing, which is in Fort Smith, and is expected to open in two years, The Times Record reported (http://bit.ly/1ADMJ1u ). The land was donated by the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority and its boar...

Ross, Hutchinson argue over state budget planningLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas gubernatorial candidates Asa Hutchinson and Mike Ross each say Gov. Mike Beebe approves of their tax plans, though it was Ross who drew the endorsement from the fellow Democrat. Hutchinson, the Republican nominee, said in a Friday forum that he stands by his plan for a $100 million cut in the state income tax for the middle class. Ross says that would result in a $60 million deficit, based on an estimated $40 million in ...

Romney casts Arkansas race as way to fight Obama NORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Mitt Romney cast Arkansas' Senate race as a way to fight the agenda of the president who defeated him two years ago, as he campaigned Thursday on behalf of Congressman Tom Cotton's bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor. Speaking to reporters after headlining a pair of fundraisers for Cotton, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee praised Cotton and said his bid was crucial to Republicans' efforts to win control of the Se...

Democratic AG hopeful announces legislative agenda LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Democratic Attorney General hopeful Nate Steel on Thursday proposed that sex offenders no longer be eligible for parole and that the state require them to carry designated driver's licenses. Steel, a state representative from Nashville, proposed the new sex offender restrictions as part of a series of measures he said he'd push if elected attorney general. Steel is running against Republican nominee Leslie Rutledge, who resp...

Court ends part of desegregation lawsuit LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A federal judge Thursday ended a large part of an Arkansas desegregation case rooted in the Little Rock Central High School crisis of 1957 but a lawyer for black schoolchildren said inequalities remain in the state's largest district. U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall Jr. signed an order that will halt payments the state of Arkansas has been making to three Little Rock-area districts to boost integration. The payments, which...

Attorney general rejects marijuana plan LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has rejected the proposed wording for a prospective ballot item that would let voters decide whether to legalize marijuana in the state. McDaniel's office on Thursday said the name and ballot title on the proposal sponsored by Rockie Barley of Malvern is ambiguous and has "misleading tendencies." McDaniel says changes are needed to more fully and correctly summarize the proposal. McD...

Construction resumes on Vilonia school after storm VILONIA (AP) — Crews have resumed the construction of a Vilonia school after much of their work was destroyed in a tornado. The project was several weeks away from completion when hundreds of hours of labor were destroyed in just a few minutes. Project manager Lance Wright says construction of the 95,000-square-foot intermediate school was more than 90 percent complete before the tornado hit. The school was set to open its doors this week, but...